theraineysisters knitting and so much more

If we follow the logic of Sally’s recent post, we are our mother’s FOs!  As loyal readers may remember, we lost our mother two years ago right about this time.  We both think of her often and her loss left a hole that will never be filled.  This is the picture we shared of her from her wedding day:

The dress is gorgeous.  We brought it back with us, but it had been ravaged by time.  The black and white photo above does not do the color justice and you cannot see all of the love and perfection our grandmother put into it.  The dress is pale pink organza.  Here are some detailed shots:

The Back

The buttonholes are hand sewn

The deep hem

We can’t call our mom today, but she  — and both of our grandmothers — are still in our hearts.  Happy Mother’s Day to you and yours.

Today is my “baby girl’s” birthday; she turns 25. She’s smart, beautiful, and kind. You’ve seen her on these pages modeling some of my creations. E.g.:

She’s a fierce competitor, which I admire very much. Here is a photo of her in last week’s Tour of Gila in New Mexico.

Happy Birthday, Nora!!!

::Groan::  Sally refused to even be associated with a blog post with this title!   However, she is represented!   These are our “matching” Holden Shawlettes — a beautiful pattern found F-R-E-E on Ravelry!  The shawls are a speedy knit, look gorgeous when worn because of the eye-catching scallops, and show off that single skein of sock or fingering weight yarn you bought for the color.

My Holden is knit from Madeline Tosh Light in Color Flashdance (the yarn I bought recently at StevenBe’s — shop hop).  Sally’s is in Viola Fancy Sock in the color Sea Storm.  Sally and I both did a modification described by others on Ravelry: we stopped 2 rows short before starting the feather and fan chart: 189 sts instead of 193, and then worked all of the pattern repeats in the identical manner (in the original pattern, one repeat has two extra sts = 4 total for both sides).  I was concerned with yardage and may not have had enough without the changes.  Sally did the same, but had a lot of yarn left over.

I think I will be making a lot more of these as gifts.  They are a very quick knit and really show off the yarn and the wearer’s sense of fashion.  Fast and beautiful…what more do you want?

We are nothing if not givers.  Always giving.  Always thinking of others.  Take the economy.  We have to do our part, and we take that very seriously.  Very. Seriously.  Tirelessly, in fact.

Sally arrived last Thursday for Yarnover* and we have worked at doing our patriotic duty nonstop ever since.   Not all of the yarns pictured were purchased since Thursday but they are very recent acquisitions.  🙂

*Yarnover purchases indicated by asterisk

1- This was actually an investment in class time: these skeins are Sally’s hand dyed yarns!  She made them in a class she took at Fibre Space in Alexandria.  From Susan: they are gorgeous and very “buyable” if that is a word!

*2- Susan bought these skeins of Berocco Cotton Twist at Yarnover: she saw a special someone wearing “Braided Glory” and thought this was the same yarn…unfortunately not, but she is hoping it will work anyway.  The wrap is a show stopper.

*3- We LOVE Madeline Tosh Light and bought a lot of it!!  Some of these colors are for gifts…
(some were bought at Yarnover and some elsewhere)

*4- Sally tried on a darling swing jacket in Schulana Mosco in at StevenBe’s Yarnover booth and just had to have it — and buttons to boot.

5- Susan thought that Jared Flood needed some additional reassurance about his recent foray into yarn development, so she bought enough Shelter (color Nest) to make his new design Brownstone for DH for Christmas (give, give, give!!).  ETA: Sorry — no Shelter at Yarnover!  Sally brought it with her from DC (purchased at Fibre Space!).

6- Supporting the independents: Dye for Wool in a deep denim sock weight.

*7- Supporting more small dyers: Sun Valley Fiber Farm — this booth was filled with stunning yarns.  We bought several colors in order to make this design by Romi Hill.  Romi was at Yarnover so we wanted to show our support for her as well!  Mapleweave was wearing Taygete in two stunning colors so we dragged her to the booth and tried our luck at coming up with winning combinations!

8- Susan bought a Chart Keeper from KnitPicks.  Great invention!

9- What can you say?  Sanguine Gryphon’s Gaia Laceweight in color Lobstrosity…oh my!  The color is indescribeable.

10- Malabrigo Sock in color Ochre…for a stealth project.

11- Susan bought this “green” yarn for the Summer Solstice Cardigan and is loving it — this will be a workhorse sweater to wear every day.  Ethical Twist in color Oatmeal.

*12- Another stunner from Sun Valley Fiber Farms in merino and cashmere.

Oh yeah.  We also attended Yarnover. 😉

Yarnover was a huge event this year — celebrating its 25th year.  25 stellar instructors, 400 participants, 40 vendors in a bustling marketplace.   The gift for participants was especially nice this year for the silver anniversary: silver needle gauge necklaces.  We worked the event so came home exhausted. 

The highlight for both of us was being approached by our readers with a greeting, “Hi, I read your blog!”  We LOVED it!!  Sally leaves today after a whirlwind weekend.

Come and join Sally and me at the Silver Anniversary Yarnover!   Even if you do not want to sign up for a class, there is plenty to see and do. 

The keynote address will be presented by Merike Saarniit and is called, “The Evolution of Tradition to Contemporary Knitting.”   It is free to those taking classes and open to the public for $5.  The Vendor Market is free and boasts some fabulous shops and independent knitting-related artists.   You cannot fail to have a spectacular time.  And there are classes that you can still sign up for ON THE DAY ITSELF!!!

Check here for the brochure.

You can also meet the Ravelry Crew, hosted by StevenBe of the Yarn Garage.

For more discussion about the classes and events, visit the Yarnover Ravelry Group.  Hope to see you there!

Knitters stand out in a crowd!

Check these out!

Our personal favorite, of course, is “The King’s Peep”:

Hope you have a Happy Easter or special Passover with family and friends.

…but winter is not done with me:

No lyin’, I’m cryin!

I am so lucky to be part of a knitting group with such very talented knitters — I have been exposed to so many great projects that have inspired me to pick up my needles.  Kathy (beloved friend and sidekick to Decorah, IA) brought in a set of the cutest felted bunnies you have ever seen.  Inspiring, yes, but I did not feel like making a bunny.  So, I made her an offer that she couldn’t chose not to refuse: I would knit her something and she would knit me a bunny.  The item she chose from me will be revealed later this year (stealth knitting as it were), but I ended up with the original bunny o’ my dreams!!

Lil Bunny Foo Foo

You can see how cute he is, but you cannot tell how soft: butter soft out of wonderful alpaca.  The pattern is Wooly Bunnies by Marie Mayhew — a local designer we are proud to call our own!

There is still time to make one of these lil cuties before the real Easter Bunny makes his appearance!!

The ceiling at Bella Lana

It is the weekend of the Annual [Yarn Store] Shop Hop here in Minnesota.  Yay!  Explore, shop, eat…repeat!

Some of my knitting friends and I decided rather spur of the moment to veer off the beaten path and come up with our own list of shops to visit.  We’ve done the Shop Hop thing in the past (obtain passports, get them stamped, collect charms, etc.), but this year we decided to focus on shops that not all of us had been to rather than going to old favorites.  The Final Four:

Lila and Claudine’s, Mahtomehdi
Darn.Knit. {anyway}, Stillwater
Bella Lana, Minneapolis
StevenBe’s A Yarn Garage Workshop, Minneapolis

We had a blast.  Here are some pictures:

Lila and Claudine’s

Darn.Knit. {anyway}

Bella Lana

StevenBe’s Yarn Garage Minneapolis Location

I did not buy much: just one skein of gorgeous Madelinetosh Merino Light in color Flashdance at Yarn Garage:

We dined at The Dock in Stillwater and had GREAT food!  I became an embarassment to the group while trying to get something sticky off my hands, so Kathy (former friend 😉 ) said, “I wish WE could post pictures on Susan’s blog!”   Thanks…

Flood season is upon us and Stillwater is located on the St. Croix River, so we got to see the levy they built to try to keep the town from flooding:

That’s a street sign in the water! 

What a fun day.  If you get a chance to do something like this in your area, DO IT.  It is such a nice way to meet up with other knitters and share our passion!

PS: The weather was spectacular!  We revelled in the warm spring breezes and relished the sun on our faces.  We also realized how much we love the four seasons, and pity the people who have perfect weather all of the time and therefore cannot truly experience the joy of a beautiful spring day.  Okay, we know we are rationalizing, but give us our small victory!!